By Paige Hapeman
We are pleased to welcome new NYWIFT member, Isabella (Bella) Pechaty!
Bella Pechaty is a young professional working in freelance film journalism programming. She has worked at a number of arts nonprofits, independent publications, and in film publicity. She is interested in pursuing a career in film PR, creative development, and film criticism. She holds a BA in Film Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University, and is currently based in New York City.
Continue reading to learn more about Bella and her creative journey!
New NYWIFT Member Isabella Pechaty (image courtesy of Isabella Pechaty)
Tell us about your creative journey so far.
My creative journey is at its beginning! I got to hone my writing skills and interests a lot while in school, taking classes on film history and theory, screenwriting, and various filmmaking workshops. I’ve also spent a fair share of time on sets in the city, as PA or AD, and helping friends get their projects made.
How did you come across NYWIFT and what about being a member are you most looking forward to?
I encountered NYWIFT while speaking with people whose careers I aspire to and became interested in what it had offered them. I was able to join through the Next Wave Membership. I’m still early in my career, so I’m most looking forward to learning from other members! The film industry is changing so much, and I want to know more about where my abilities and interests will fit in best.
What inspired you to pursue a degree in Film Studies at Barnard?
Barnard has always had a talented community of alumni working in drama and entertainment. I chose to attend because of the many writers and filmmakers that I admired who had come from there, and because of the Athena Film Festival itself.
Barnard and Columbia take a more academic approach to teaching film, but I think there’s such a benefit to approaching it from a liberal arts background. It gives you an appetite for and an understanding of the many mediums that a film can draw from – visual arts, history, philosophy, psychology, and music. I’m so grateful for the foundation it gave me.
Bella backstage during a shoot (image courtesy of Isabella Pechaty)
You are a Postbaccalaureate Fellow for the Athena Film Festival. How did you come across this opportunity and what has your experience been like in this position so far?
The Post-Bacc Fellowship is a valuable opportunity that the festival offers to recent graduates, allowing you to get hands-on film programming and festival operations experience. I’ve found programming and curation to be super rewarding, and there’s a magical quality to making a live event happen.
I enjoy screening and programming short films the most. They’re an often slept-on section of festivals, but include some of the most original, boundary-pushing work out there. Through the fellowship, I’ve had the opportunity to program a short film block for the 2024 festival, to attend Sundance, Gotham Week, and so many other memorable experiences.
Bella at Sundance 2024 (image courtesy of Isabella Pechaty)
What sparked your interest in film criticism and how do you hope to continue to integrate this into your career?
I was always interested in journalism but was specifically attracted to how film and cultural critics have a closer relationship with readers. The lines of objectivity have to be blurred when you discuss art, and the writer’s identity factors in heavily. I like that. I like the dialogue it creates between the writer, reader, and subject. My favorite critics integrate their own lives into their work in this way.
Alongside what I was learning in class, I was also heavily plugged into online discourse, which made me interested in what film criticism will look like in the digital and information age. The Internet has the potential to fully democratize film journalism or overwhelm it entirely. It’s a concept that I think will be increasingly prevalent, and one I hope to continue writing about.
How do you decide which films you would like to write a review for?
I definitely have my favorite genres – horror, science fiction, documentary, and international films. With how much content and criticism is out there, I like to choose films that will be tied to current discourse and intertwine it with political and social life. I think a piece of criticism is most useful when it helps us name larger cultural movements. The speed at which information travels now is incredible, and we can make more direct connections between our media and our world than ever before.
Bella at the 2024 Athena Film Festival (image courtesy of Isabella Pechaty)
What are some of your career aspirations? What are you most excited about with upcoming projects?
In the short term, I plan on improving my writing and growing my connections! In the future, I would like to be a contributing critic to a film publication (or whatever those writing roles will look like in the future), and possibly teaching and programming for festivals and art-house theaters. I’m planning on always being a person who enjoys writing about films, and talking about them too much with people who feel the same.
Connect with Bella Pechaty on LinkedIn, on Instagram at @bella_pechaty, and on Letterboxd at @bella_pechaty.
Paige Hapeman
Paige Hapeman moved to NYC after graduating from Lehigh University in 2019 and began her corporate career as a consultant. Ready to get back to her roots, she traded in her powerpoints and presentations for scripts and screenplays and began pursuing acting full time in 2022. She recently had her NYC theatre debut with the new play Someone ExtraordinariX. Paige’s recent film credits include Before We Begin, and First Fall. Paige completed the summer intensive with The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2023 and studies with The Barrow Group and Second City.
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